2014 MLB Draft Thread

With the start of the college baseball season this past weekend it is time to get an official 2014 MLB draft thread. Here is what you need to know about the upcoming draft.

The draft will be held in New Jersey on June 5th through June 7th. The draft will be broadcasted on the MLB Network. The first round, comp round A, competitive balance round A, and the second round will be on the 5th. The 3rd through 10th rounds will be on the 6th followed by the next 30 rounds on the 7th.

The Twins will have the 5th overall pick in the upcoming draft. Their second round pick is currently the 45th overall pick but with 5 players left with pick compensation attached to them things could change. If the Twins were to sign a free agent with pick compensation attached to them they would forfeit their second round pick.

This draft is considered to be stronger and deeper than the past two drafts with its strength being HS pitchers. Currently NC State's LHP Carlos Rodon is considered the overwhelming favorite to go #1.

Feel free to share and discuss anything draft related here.

With the 5th overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft the Minnesota Twins select.........

LHP Carlos Rodon threw 6 innings this weekend against North Carolina State. He gave up 4 hits, allowed three runs (only 1 earned), struck out 6, walked 1 but hit three batters. Here is what one scout had to say:

[FONT=verdana]"[Rodon] was just a little bit off," an NL Central scout said. "He wasn't missing his spots with his fastball by more than a few inches, but clearly he didn't have his A-plus stuff. Normally when he's ahead in counts you're done for; he'll either throw the fastball by you or get the fastball by you, but that wasn't really the case today. [/FONT]

[FONT=verdana]"I'm not concerned because he wasn't at his best to start last year, and we saw how good he was to finish the year. If he was throwing like this in April, sure, but I'm not panicking over mid-February." [/FONT]

NC State's other star, SS Treat Turner, went 3-4 with a stolen base. He not only showed off his plus-plus speed on the base path, one of his three hits was a bunt single, he made several great plays in the field. The same scout above had to say this about Turner:[FONT=verdana]"I think Turner's the best middle infielder in the class," said the same scout who watched Rodon. "And it was really nice to see him look healthy today. Plus-plus speed and above-average defense at a position like shortstop is always nice, and statistically he's been among the better hitters in college baseball the last two seasons."

East Carolina's RHP Jeff Hoffman threw 6 and 2/3 innings against James Madison on Friday. He gave up four runs (3 earned), struck out 6, walked two, and allowed only 4 hits. Here are two scouts takes on his performance:

[FONT=verdana]"I liked the way he settled down [after the home run]," an American League scout said. "But the stuff was really good all game. I had him 93-96 with a couple of 97's, and the curveball was a plus offering, as was the change at times. His command suffered a bit in the last couple of innings, but overall, there was more positives than negatives, which is always nice to see in the first start."

Another scout had this to say:[/FONT][FONT=Helvetica Neue]“You can’t walk away from this outing and not be impressed,” an American League scout said. “He is special. His changeup was a lot better today and he showed the ability to spot up his fastball where he wanted it.”

Vanderbilt's RHP and former first round pick Tyler Beede threw 5 innings of 1 hit ball. He struck out 7, had 1 walk, and hit a batter. After walking the first batter of the game and hitting another that inning Beede settled down. Beede has the stuff to be a top 5 pick but has always struggled with command issues. Here is what one scout had to say:

[FONT=verdana]"The command is the key," an AL West scout said. "There's no doubt in anyone's mind that he has the stuff to start, he's got two to three plus pitches. It was a rough first inning, but he attacked hitters the rest of the day, and hopefully that's what we see the rest of the year." [/FONT]TCU's LHP Brandon Finnegan had a monster game against Jacksonville. The 5-11 lefty threw 7 innings of shutout ball and struck out 13 batters (8 of the first 9 he saw). While he only allowed 3 hits he did walk 3. Scouts said he sat around 92-93 with his fastball but dialed it up to 96 a couple times. Here is what his couch had to say:[FONT=Helvetica Neue]“That’s as well as he’s pitched in a TCU uniform, I think,” Schlossnagle said. “He had some moments last year—he took a no-hitter into the eighth and ninth against Oklahoma. But he was just in complete command. He threw almost 80 percent strikes with his fastball, 74 or 75 percent first-pitch strikes. He was just pounding the bottom of the strike zone, one after the other after the other.”[/FONT][FONT=Helvetica Neue]“The key for Finnegan, he’s an emotional guy, he’s got a big arm, and he really relishes being a power pitcher and a Friday night guy,” Schlossnagle said. “His challenge, like most guys like that, he’s got to be in control of his emotions so he can be in control of his body, and therefore he can control his pitches. He did that at a really high level. A lot of that comes with maturity, and he’s really matured a lot in three years. I’m hoping that he took another step. We’ll see if he can put consistent outings like that together.”

For more Finnegan quotes and information on his start read BA's Aaron Fitt's three strikes article:[/FONT]http://www.baseballa...kes-week-one-4/[FONT=Helvetica Neue]LSU's RHP Aaron Nola had an uncharacteristic first start. Nola's calling card has been great command but he hit 3 batters in the game. In his 6 innings of work he gave up 4 hits and struck out 6.

[/FONT](One of the scout quotes were reported by MLB Draft Insider and ESPN'S Chris Crawford).[FONT=Helvetica Neue]

While there are many intriguing names heading in to spring ball Trea Turner is my early favorite for the Twins pick. With a plus hit tool and plus plus speed the thought of him hitting at the top of the order with Sano and Buxton makes me positively giddy. Most reports I have read indicate he will be able to stay at SS long term, further maximizing his value. If he stays healthy and continues to develop his power he could be really special.

To me it is Turner in a heartbeat without blinking an eye. There will be pitchers available farther down the line but not shortstops with the potential of Turner. And wouldn't they have taken Correa last year if Houston would have grabbed Buxton? I think so and that is your obvious answer for this year's first pick. Subject closed, right?

To me it is Turner in a heartbeat without blinking an eye. There will be pitchers available farther down the line but not shortstops with the potential of Turner. And wouldn't they have taken Correa last year if Houston would have grabbed Buxton? I think so and that is your obvious answer for this year's first pick. Subject closed, right?

Having a high Avg., fast, infielder who can stick at Short is definitely a first round pick. But his top five status will depend on if he shows power again this year. 5-10 home runs may be all it takes.

As far as right now, if you told me we selected Trea Turner, I'd be pretty happy with that pick.

I'd be not so happy with Hoffman. He doesn't miss bats, but he sure missed the strike zone often. A semi 'meh' with Beede. Seems to have overpowering stuff - I'd like to see him get his control under wraps this year (or at least some marked improvement). If we got Rodon, I'd crap a brick.

The others I'd watch closely leading up to the June draft are: Tyler Koleck, Sean Newcomb, Touki Toussaint, Kyle Schwarber, and Braxton Davidson.

Kennesaw states C Max Pentecost had an impressive start to the year against Middle Tennessee State. He went 8-13 with 3 2B, 2 RBIs and 2 BB. He also threw out 2 of 4 base runners. While none of his tools are plus all of them are average or above.

Indiana C Kyle Schwarber did not have such a good start. He went 3-15 at the plate with only 1 extra base hit (2B). He walked once and struck out once. Here is what a scout had to say about the two catchers:

[FONT=verdana]"I know a lot of people like Schwarber, but if you're asking me to choose between the two I'd rather have [Pentecost]," an NL West scout told me after watching the Indiana series. "There's more power in Schwarber's bat by a considerable margin, but Pentecost has above-average tools across the board and I have far less questions about his glove. Schwarber is going to have to hit if he's going to have to convince us he's a 45 glove [[/FONT]on the 20-80 scouting scale[FONT=verdana]] and a 60 bat if he's going to be a first-round pick, and I don't think he's either."

Virgina's OF Derek Fisher went 3-7 with a walk, strikeout, 3B, and an RBI.

Oregon State's two top prospects had good starts. OF Dylan Davis only went 4-12 but had 7 RBIs. He also had 3 strike outs, 2 walks, and one double. Davis' partner OF Michael Con for to went 5 for 10 and had 5 walks to no strike outs. He had 2 2B to help him fuel his week leading 8 RBI performance.

For any other college names here is a link to BAs college draft prospects stat round up for week 1:

To me it is Turner in a heartbeat without blinking an eye. There will be pitchers available farther down the line but not shortstops with the potential of Turner. And wouldn't they have taken Correa last year if Houston would have grabbed Buxton? I think so and that is your obvious answer for this year's first pick. Subject closed, right?

While I'm a huge Turner fanboy I'm a long way from labelling him BPA at 5 if he is there. I want to see more offensive upside.

As far as right now, if you told me we selected Trea Turner, I'd be pretty happy with that pick.

I'd be not so happy with Hoffman. He doesn't miss bats, but he sure missed the strike zone often. A semi 'meh' with Beede. Seems to have overpowering stuff - I'd like to see him get his control under wraps this year (or at least some marked improvement). If we got Rodon, I'd crap a brick.

The others I'd watch closely leading up to the June draft are: Tyler Koleck, Sean Newcomb, Touki Toussaint, Kyle Schwarber, and Braxton Davidson.

Beede and Newcomb are two guys I will definitely be watching. Clint Longenecker mention to that Beede [FONT=Helvetica Neue]has, "altered his mechanics with his lower half. Beede’s landing on his front leg has softened and his ability to get over his front leg has improved and become less rigid than last summer." If Beede has finally found some command he might be gone before the Twins pick. I will definitely be following his mechanics this year.[/FONT]

While I'm a huge Turner fanboy I'm a long way from labelling him BPA at 5 if he is there. I want to see more offensive upside.

Yes, it's not too early to get excited about this stuff, but it does seem too early to be picking our horses already.

There seems to be a lot of Turner love right now. He might be the guy but I agree, we need to see that he at least has some gap-to-gap power. If he's going to be just a slap hitter at the MLB level, his ceiling is going to be Elvis Andrus.

Would you take Elvis Andrus at #5? Of course, but that's just his ceiling. Generally the type of floor that comes with solid defensive but little power middle infielder is akin to Pedro Florimon. So if you're drafting Elvis Andrus, you better be positive his defense will be elite and he can get on base at an elite level, because without the power, there is next to no margin of error with these kinds of guys.

We should probably be talking about HS C/OF Alex Jackson as well. Twins love toolsy prep bats and, on mlb.com's list, he's currently the best HS bat in the country. Jacob Gatewood, another toolsy HS bat, could be an exciting pick, too. He probably ends up at 3rd but could be a 30 homerun guy.

We should probably be talking about HS C/OF Alex Jackson as well. Twins love toolsy prep bats and, on mlb.com's list, he's currently the best HS bat in the country. Jacob Gatewood, another toolsy HS bat, could be an exciting pick, too. He probably ends up at 3rd but could be a 30 homerun guy.

Because the college season has started in some states, but the high school season has not, you gong to see more chatter about college guys for awhile, not because the high school guys have lost stock, but because we don't have a lot of new data or reports on them. Gatewood is an example of a guy the Marlins could target, someone who could be the cream of the draft, but is slotted in the top 10. So the Marlins cut a deal to save cash/cap space.

We should probably be talking about HS C/OF Alex Jackson as well. Twins love toolsy prep bats and, on mlb.com's list, he's currently the best HS bat in the country. Jacob Gatewood, another toolsy HS bat, could be an exciting pick, too. He probably ends up at 3rd but could be a 30 homerun guy.

I would much rather have a SS or power SP over another toolsy OF. Buxton may be in CF for the next 10-15 years. Arcia may have a corner spot, so might Hicks. Corner OF spots are relatively easy to fill on the free agent market as well.

Pure BPA strategies, in my opinion need to be adjusted a little if other needs can or can't be filled in free agency. Same with football. The Vikings have CB and QB needs, good QB's almost never hit free agency and you need a QB to win (like you need SP in baseball).

The good news is this draft appears to be deep at SP and SS, so hopefully BPA and needs will intersect.